the deficit, nobody wants there to be a deficit, but that's not the pressing need we've got as a nation. growing the economy, frankly, is the only way we have gotten rid of red ink in the past. when americans are better off, they pay more in taxes. the government can pay for the usual things and pay down the debt. president clinton, the surplus, he got that partly from raising revenue. raising taxes. but also he did it in a way that grew the economy and the nation prospered and the debt became no big deal and then the debt was gone and the debt clocks that were supposed to be scary got shut off. that was because of prioritizing economic growth and being willing to raise revenues. look when we started growing again after the recession. it was not long after the stimulus kicked in. the government spent money and the economy grew. that's how it works. that's why it used to be a beltway consensus when the economy needed to e grow, you needed economic stimulus in terms of your fiscal policy. now the discussion about how we need to make sure we contract the economy and cause as much pain as p